Watching Birds
by theawwesomeeridan
Summary: Iida is making his rounds, sitting in one meeting with each club in the school to get to know the student body better. Next up is the Bird Watching Club. He has nothing more than professional curiosity in the boy already there. At least, that's what he's telling himself.


Iida Tenya pulled out his phone, checking to make sure that he was at the correct classroom. It would be a complete embarrassment to enter the wrong room. He had his image as class president to uphold after all. Luckily, the number on the door matched the one on his club spreadsheet. This was the Bird Watchers Club. Only three students, but Tenya was determined to spend at least one session with each club. It was his duty to get to know all of his constituents in order to be the best president that he could be. What better way was there than to see how they enjoy their favored hobbies? With one last nod, Tenya opened the door. Only one of the three had arrived before him; their advisor hadn't shown either.

"Oh dear, am I too early? I deeply apologize for my intrusion, -" Now he was fumbling over the name of this dark mysterious boy. He knew he had seen that face before, but only in passing. He should still know the name attached to it. Not a good first impression, class president. He would have to strive to better remember everyone's name so that this situation does not happen again.

"Tokoyami, class president Iida. Tokoyami Fumikage. As for your timeliness, I believe my compatriots shall be tardy today if they show up at all." He was sitting on the window sill, looking out over the courtyard below them. The cherry trees had recently bloomed, and some small birds were fluttering about them.

"I see. Are there any interesting birds out today? Is this how the club normally proceeds? I want to learn everything I can today." Tenya moved to stand next to Tokoyami, trying to see what he saw. To see what made that mysterious, slightly angular, face soften at the edges just so.

"Ah. Club meetings are more of a formality to keep us listed in the school directory. We usually spend a few moments discussing our next trip, but other than that we spend the time talking about our days or working on homework." Tokoyami's back pressed against the side of the window, one leg pulled up against his chest while the other dangled below him.

"Do you go on trips often?" Tenya shifted closer to the shorter boy without seeming to notice his own movements.

"We have one scheduled for our day off two weeks from now to spot owls. Revelry in the dark." Tokoyami smiled as if enjoying a secret joke. Tenya's breath caught slightly, and he pulled out his phone to distract himself from his companion's face.

"I see." Tenya opened the calendar app to make a note of the outing. It was nothing less than what he had done for other clubs with such trips. If that were true, why did it feel so… different? "Do you prefer the nocturnal birds?"

As Tokoyami was opening his mouth to answer, the door opened again. Tenya turned to see who it was that saved him from making an even bigger fool of himself.

"Kendo? I did not realize that you were part of the Bird Watching Club as well. Does it not take away from your class representative duties too much?"

"Oh, Iida. So, we're your club of the day, huh?" Kendo gave a jaunty wave to them both as she made her way to a desk near the front of the room. "Unfortunately, Hawks won't be joining us today."

"Your advisor is shirking his duties?" Tenya couldn't help the frown that pulled at the edges of his mouth.

"Oh, nothing like that. He's just busy, and it isn't like we're doing much today. He makes sure to be on our watches, though." She sat down and leaned back in the chair. "How have your club viewings been going?"

"Ah." Tenya moved away from the window slightly, and from Tokoyami, adjusting his glasses. "They have been great. I feel as if I truly know more about our student body now. I am nearly done as well. It is amazing to see just how many unique clubs our school has. I have been deeply honored these last few weeks that I was able to share such an experience with everyone."

Tokoyami tuned them both out, watching the leaves on the tree right outside flutter. He let them go on for a few long moments before speaking up again. "Are you two going spend the entire club period talking about school government topics?"

"My apologies, Tokoyami. I only meant to observe, not to dominate your club." Tenya bowed to him and moved to sit closer to Kendo than the window. "My records indicate that there is a third member?"

Kendo waved a hand dismissively. "Koda has another club. We meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, but his other one only meets on Tuesdays."

"I see. How studious of him to attend two separate clubs! Please, proceed." Tenya returned his attention to his phone, planning to take notes on how the club meeting went, but it was hard to keep his eyes from glancing over at Tokoyami's face every few moments. He had not yet moved from his perch at the window and made no movements to.

"Right, well, first order of business, do we have our night vision goggles at the ready?" Kendo grinned, not minding that one of their number was not in a proper seat.

"I have mine already, and Todoroki said that we could borrow his pair." Tokoyami reached down to pull something out of his bag. Tenya assumed it was the aforementioned night vision goggles, though he had never had cause to see a pair before. "He said he wasn't using them any time soon, so he gave them to me at lunch."

"Perfect. I know Hawks has some from last time. Three pairs should be enough for the four of us. I believe Koda is more interested in the other nocturnal animals, so he probably won't be using one for much time." Kendo marked something off on a list she must have taken out while Tenya was distracted. There were perhaps one or two more items that still remained, and Tenya admired her thorough preparations. Most of the clubs simply acted spontaneously, but it was nice to see that some students understood the benefit of planning ahead, especially for off campus trips.

Tokoyami leaned forward in his seat, his hands rubbing together. "Excellent. It seems everything is ready for the- "

"Revelry in the dark. We get it, Tokoyami." She turns to smirk at Tenya. "That's what he calls all our nighttime outings."

"Yes… Well then. That all seems in order. Is that all, Kendo?" Tokoyami actually looked a little put out that he didn't get to say his phrase. Tenya made a mental note of that for later without much thought to what sort of later he was saving it for.

"Yep! That's all the business we had today. We have more than enough meetings left to cover everything else. How is Dark Shadow doing?" Kendo put the list back in her backpack before putting her feet up on a desk. Tenya barely bit back a complaint, but he was determined to see how the clubs actually were. Seeing a façade that they put on for his benefit would help nothing. Besides, she had done it often enough after a student government meeting that he knew his words would fall on deaf ears. It simply wasn't worth interrupting Tokoyami's response.

"He is fine, thank you for asking." Tokoyami was back to his relaxed pose as well, his foot swaying below him.

"Who is Dark Shadow?" There, that wasn't interrupting anything; that was adding to the discussion. It had everything to do with being a good conversationalist and nothing to do with Tenya's desire to learn anything he could about Tokoyami. Even if he could see himself running his hand through those choppy black locks. No. Those are inappropriate thoughts to have about a student while acting in his official capacity as class president. He needs to stop this.

"Ah. He is the raven that follows me around. Quite like a pet, in many ways, but he doesn't like being indoors nor caged." Tokoyami's eyes shifted to the floor, as if he felt embarrassed about talking about the raven to someone not in the Bird Watching Club.

"What an interesting choice of pet, a raven. I don't think I have seen one before." Tenya readjusted his glasses so it wouldn't look like he was staring at Tokoyami. Not that he was, of course, but even better that it didn't look like that.

"It is more that he decided that I shall be his human than anything else. Although I have been able to teach him a few words." Tokoyami was clearly acting modest, and Tenya couldn't help but feel the urge to see beyond all his walls. To see him have more moments as he had before when he was gazing out the window.

"Like 'Revelry in the dark.'" Kendo giggled, thankfully reminding Tenya that they weren't alone in the room.

"Perhaps like 'Revelry in the dark.'" Tokoyami shot her a look that Tenya couldn't decipher. It looked like a cross between annoyed and grateful, but Tenya didn't know him well enough to say for certain.

"I find that to be an interesting phrase. Almost poetic in fact." This was not flirting. Nope. Tenya would never do such a thing on school grounds. This was him connecting to the interests of a student. Nothing else to see here. "Have you ever thought about joining the poetry club? They meet on Fridays and have recently started a section on Edgar Allen Poe, I believe it was."

"I quite like Poe. Were you aware that he wrote the Raven after hearing Charles Dickens talk about his family's recently deceased pet raven?" Tokoyami finally met Tenya's eyes, his own holding the spark that one has when talking about something they truly care about. Tenya found it quite hard to breathe in that instant. "Well, more accurately, he altered a poem titled To Lenore to include a raven, but the point still stands." He moved his gaze back down to the floor, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "My apologies for carrying on about that. I am sure you don't care. It doesn't truly matter."

"No! That isn't it at all!" Tenya found himself standing with the chair he had been sitting on shoved behind him into the next desk. "I think it is great that you can be passionate about the subject. So many people wouldn't care to know such a fact, but it's great that some people like you learn that knowledge and pass it on. It makes the whole world brighter when we share our interests!"

Before anyone else could form a reply, which Kendo looked like hers might be laughter, Tenya's phone alarm went off. It was the Sonic Underground theme song, but he stopped it during the opening guitar riff. Hopefully neither of them knew the source.

"My apologies. My cross-country meeting is today as well, though I was hoping it would not interfere with the club. I thank you both for allowing me this time to sit in on your club." Tenya bowed twice, once at each other student, before dashing out the door before he could say anything else to embarrass himself.

He only had two clubs left, one tomorrow and one on Friday. He was almost done with his self-appointed quest. It had been an interesting few weeks, meeting almost everyone in the school. He couldn't help but be glad for meeting one student more so than the rest, though. Tokoyami Fumikage. A lover of birds, poetry, and poetry about birds. With a really cute face. Tenya flushed as he walked faster, never running in the halls, to the track changing rooms. He was glad for once that he wouldn't see his two friends after practice. He needed time to decipher his feelings before anyone else started questioning them.


End file.
